Project 4: Process Post #1

Clearly I am not a very good artist or drawer, but this is my basic rough draft/blueprints for my final installation. It may not be very clear to others, but I understand and can read my drawings and what I'm intending to show or do in each sketch. Using these sketches helped me in planning, and helped me a great deal in deciding where it would be most appropriate and efficient to place the projector and all other props in order to maximize the quality of the installation and limit the amount of shadows present.

Installation Art Response: Chapter 4

Ari Felsen 
FMX 463 
4/23/19

Installation Art: Chapter 4 Reading & Response

          This chapter of Claire Bishop’s scholarly article, Installation Art, focuses more on examining and analyzing the concept of activated spectatorship as a politicized aesthetic practice. From the importance and effects of a viewer’s participation/performance in an installation, to the political/social effects/results that are correlated are the main theme of this chapter. The role that a viewer has on an installation may be immense, as their individual actions have the ability to completely sway or takeover the whole message and perception of a piece of art. Whether acting individually or interacting with another participant, a viewer can be integral to achieve the desired effect of a work of art. Straying from traditional art, such as paintings and sculptures, where the viewer’s only activity and role is to be spectating and is free of interactions; this concept of art is entirely interactive as it is designed to inspire/use the viewer to ‘activate’ themselves and engage their presence within the piece, using their own bodily materials, especially dialogue, thought, and discussion. This chapter stresses the relationship between art and the political world. Many artists and critics are recently understanding that the viewer’s active presence within an installation or work of art is much more political and ethical than when viewing more simple or traditional works of art. As the viewer has more involvement with a work of art, their social, political, and ethical engagement is far more in-depth as opposed to a viewer spectating a work of art.
          The use of multiple participants is very significant to this era/style of art. Artists’ method

of including multiple participants together to interact or communicate is extremely effective as it not only forces the participants to discuss and use their skills to understand the piece, but it also transforms the viewers, allowing them to view and deliberate the artwork as a collective community, rather than in isolation as a mere spectator. Instead of using the viewers as objects or pieces of the installation as a way to use them to express different perceptions, they are used much more intelligently as they become an even bigger part of the artwork and encourage discussion. There are other ways that viewers can participate as a community and have an integral value to the piece. For example, for the production/building phase of the 1981 exhibition, The People’s Choice, several people were invited to donate any objects that aren’t typically thought of to be seen in an art gallery. The social interaction and collaboration between all of the people who helped was the key component of this exhibition, as it was a much of the final display and was considered to be just as important as the final outcome. 

Artist Research 4

The artist that I chose to learn about this time is Mary Mattingly. Mary is an American visual artist, born in Connecticut and now based in New York City, where she works and displays a vast majority of her artwork. She studied at Parson's School of Design in New York, and earned her BFA from the Pacific Northwest College of Art in 2002.

Her work is all very interesting and conceptual, with many of her pieces being sculptures in site-specific locations. The props and sculptures themselves have their own meanings and importance, but her use of space/locations adds a lot more meaning and interpretations to her work, forcing the audience to think about what it means on in much more open-ended way, as well as understanding more what the artist [Mattingly] is trying to depict or suggest through her work.

Many of Mary's pieces look like they take a great amount of time, money, and labor to produce. This shows that she is very creative and precise, using a ton of organizing, design and pre-production to plan out the piece and the process to make it happen. It also shows that she is a go-getter, as she exemplifies determination, problem solving and risk-taking.

I have found that several of her pieces share a similar motif/theme. In many artworks by Mary Mattingly, the use of geometric shapes appears to be one of the main focuses of each piece. Mostly being spheres/balls, but she also uses squares and triangular shapes in some of her work. Being big, clear, and center, these shapes are clearly there for a reason, intended to be the main focal point and possessing a distinct message/purpose, supplementing or supplemented by the details going on around and in the background. Another thing I like about her work is in most of the photos/documentation of her projects, everything is typically centered and symmetrical. This reminds me of one of my favorite film directors, Wes Anderson. As many know, Wes Anderson's signature film style is symmetric shots of the subject on screen. Almost all of Anderson's movies are so enjoyable to me that as I was looking through the photos of Mary Mattingly's art, I thought of The Grand Budapest Hotel, and made me happy and enjoy her art even more from the good vibes it gave me!

https://marymattingly.com/DefaultMattingly.html

Project 4: Project Proposal

Polluter:

In the room, there will be a viewer who walks through the installation. As you walk through the space, there will be a series of videos/images projected along the walls/surfaces, and trash around the room and on the floor in which the viewer will have to either pick up (which most viewers probably will not do, but shows results from my experiment/hypothesis) or kick to the side. Another idea I can do, but is not necessary, is to spill some juice or liquid on the ground where the viewer will walk, to make their feet feel sticky, which will add to the vibe of dirt/pollution, as well as add another element of the sense of touch for the audience.

As the viewer makes their way to the end of the space/installation, there will be a figure or shape of a human, and on it will be a video projection of a person doing some sort of pollution, while standing close and looking into the camera. The viewer will then be able to lift a flap or some piece of cloth of the figure, to reveal a mirror underneath, with the viewer's reflection directly on it. The viewer watches as the polluter becomes the reflection of their-self.

As the viewer walks through, another experiment I can trial is having some fruits/food on branches that the viewer can rip off and eat if they choose. The fruits will be delicious, but it will go to serve the metaphor for humans taking the planet's food and resources.

In the beginning, I can include projections of nature/earth with lush vegetation and healthy heartbeat sound in background, and as you walk through it, the planet dies and is barren/plants withered and planet's heartbeat dies off.

Senses:
-Sight
-Touch (touching the trash/sticky floor, moving the flap)
-Hear (heartbeat, any other sounds)
-Taste (if they choose to eat a fruit)

Materials:
-Camera
-Projector
-Laptop, MadMapper
-Mirror
-Fruits/branches
-Trash, juice
-Sheets/materials for wall surfaces or surface to project on

Plan:
April 9-14: Research which materials to use (projecting surface, fruit branches)
April 15: Should have all materials acquired by this point
April 9-17: Get all videos/animations/footage to be projected
April 21: Should have set up the whole set-up at least once by this point, to make sure everything is right and don't need anything else
April 23: Plan out lighting and positioning of projector, to prevent unintentional shadows
April 28: Should have everything done/acquired by now... Now time just for practicing and run-through's

Project 3: Documentation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFxarcMJXEg

The video file was too large to upload here so the link to the video documentation on YouTube is above. I think that choosing the lizard may have been a little misleading, as not all pets live miserable lives. However, there are tons and tons of animals mistreated, trapped in enclosures way too small for them, and stolen and taken away from their homes/environment. The installation was intended to serve as a setting in which a person/audience can enter a room and first-hand experience being under the circumstances that so many innocent animals are forced into, and better understand/feel sympathy.

Project 3: Process Post 3

Editing has always been one of my favorite aspects of new media, so I had a fun time editing this project. When I first uploaded all my clips to Premiere, I felt that the footage I had was good but not amazing, however I feel that my skills in editing changed that and the final product came out very well!

Project 3: Process Post 2

This is me and the adorable supporting actor featured in this project. This photo was taken during the shoot when I was filming my installation. He was being such a good boy that I had to interrupt the shoot to praise him and give him some love. The filming of this went pretty smoothly and luckily did not run into any issues!

Project 3: Process Post 1

One of the first steps I took to creating this installation was animating this scene. Along with other videos I recorded for this project, this piece was one of the most difficult but powerful. I illustrated and animated this scene in Toon Boom Harmony. It was designed to act as the shadow of the participant/subject, as he is scared to see that he is really just a prisoner.